Powdered Whole Egg storage methods

blindmanbruceDecember 15, 2010

I recently purchased a bulk amount of powdered whole eggs from Honeyville. I would like to divide it up into smaller portions. I have one gallon mylar bags and 300cc oxygen obsorbers. (I also have a vacuum sealer.)

I have read that flour should not be compressed in a vacuum because it still contains some moisture and it may develope into a toxic mold if vacuum sealed.

Questions:

1. Do powdered eggs require any special considerations?

2. Doesn't the use of oxygen obsorbers in a mylar bag compress the product in a similar way as vacuum sealing?

3. Does the use of oxygen obsorbers in a canister (can or jar) compress the product as well?

4. Can you over treat an item with oxygen obsorbers?

... I've seen videos and read articles where people have sealed powdered products using mylar bags, oxygen obsorbers while ALSO vacuum sealing in mylar and then putting it in a sealed 5 gallon bucket.

... I've seen a guy package loose flour in brown paper lunch bags, taping them shut and then vacuum sealing the paper bags inside. I'm not real concerned about flour, it's just there is nothing out there about long term storage of powdered eggs.

I'm having a difficult time choosing a method. Any help would be appreciated.

Personally, I like to keep powdered foods vacuum-sealed in jars so it remains free-flowing, avoiding the problem with moisture and compacting.

When I open a #10 can (which contains approx. 80-90) I divide it between canning jars. Be sure you have a nice large canning funnel for filling your jars. It's pretty messy stuff to work with because the powdered eggs are clumpy, rather than free-flowing.

Helpful hint: If you've never used powdered eggs, you'll find they work better if you sift them when adding it to dry ingredients to eliminate the clumps. I use a small fine-screen strainer (about 3-1/2" in diameter) and force the powdered egg/s through with a spoon.

I place the jar I'm going to use from in the refrigerator (although you can leave it at room temperature) with a plastic screw-top on it. Vacuum-seal the container/s going into storage with a FoodSaver jar sealer or a FoodSaver Universal Lid. Place a circle cut from a white paper towel or a coffee filter into the jar to cover the powdered egg (per FoodSaver instructions for all fine-powdered foods you vac-seal in a jar). This helps prevent the powder from escaping while sealing.

Another alternative is to put an oxygen absorber into the jar - 100cc per quart jar, instead of using a FoodSaver. Be sure to wipe the rim of the jar. Any powder residue will prevent the seal from holding.

When using either the FoodSaver or the oxygen absorber, be sure to soften the sealing compound on the canning lids by soaking them in hot water for a few minutes. Dry off the lid before placing on the jar/s. For the FoodSaver you won't need the ring after you vacuum-seal the lid shut. For the oxygen absorber, you tighten the ring down on the lid after you place the oxygen absorber into the top of the jarred food. For eggs, I wouldn't bother storing them in mylar, but I'm not sure about any problems with compacting them for storage.

Stored in the absence of oxygen in the original can or divided into jars that are vacuum-sealed with a FoodSaver or oxygen absorber, and placed in a cool room temperature storage, powdered eggs have a storage life of 5 to 10 years.

I typically try to do all my food storage using my FoodSaver (cost effective), but I do keep mylar bags and a variety of oxygen absorbers in storage as an option.

The link below will give you the information you need for how many oxygen absorbers per container.

Store powdered eggs in tightly sealed containers. Food-safe plastic (PETE) containers, #10 cans, and Mylar-type bags work best for long-term storage. To preserve quality, use food-safe oxygen absorbers---one per #10 can or two per five- to six-gallon container. Keep powdered eggs in a cool, dry place. When stored correctly, powdered eggs can last five to ten years or more.

I went to a website that shows how to calculate the approximate size oxygen absorber for a container.
According to calculations a #10 can has about the same volume as a gallon container. We have 1/2 gallon mason jars so theoretically they should hold half as much as a #10 can. Honeyville puts 2.25 lbs. of egg in their #10 cans. So, we figured we can put 1.125 lbs. of product in a 1/2 gallon jar with one 300cc oxygen obsorber. (Sounds reasonable so far.) BUT we put more than 1.25lbs in each jar because we leveled the powder out by banging the side of the jar with our hand. We have about 1.6 lbs. per jar and we still have almost 2 inches of headroom. We screwed on the mason jar lids and it's been over two hours but we don't see the seal bubble on the metal lids being drawn in. Did we do something wrong? Do we need more product in the jars or more than 300cc's of oxygen absorbers? (As a test we put two absorbers each in two of the jars but they are not sealed yet either?) We have done 12 (1/2)gallon jars and 9 (qt.) jars and none are sealed.
Any ideas?
-I spelled absorber right this time :)

We did wipe the rim of the jars and preheat the lids in hot water (not boiling hot), although I think they cooled down before they were applied.
It's been about five hours now and a couple looked like they have sealed (dimple in). The absorbers should be good because we used batches form different manufacturers, one of which had the pink pill inside the bag to insure they weren't activated. I think our problem is that we have too much headroom left over in the jars. We should have filled them around a half inch from the top, instead of 1 1/2 to 2 inches (going by weight instead of actual volume). We'll check the results tomorrow and we may repack them. If so, we will toss the used absorbers and add more powder to the jars and seal as before.
We'll post with the results good or bad.
Thanks again Grainlady.